Audio Reviews

[Rabid Garfunkel]

Weakest Suit - Just finished listening to the audio reviews and like with Rabid and the first ones that I heard, by Fluffy a year ago, I really like the way that this approach humanizes the reviewer. Takes longer to go through than when you read them, but a strangely intimate experience that takes away some of the occasionally cold feel of the written reviews. Maybe you or Rabid might want to put a simple guideline to your approach up on a 'how to' page, it may be helpful to others considering this method.

This thread is Paco's fault so I'll just say my piece and then let it live or die on its own merits. You podcasters pro'lly have helpful additions too, so chime in if you've got additions or think I'm full of shit

"Rules & Discoveries"

• 1) Listen to the fight first. More than once.
  2) Sit in a comfortable chair, and if you've got other people on mike(s) with you, make sure they're comfortable too. Monitoring in headphones makes for a more controlled recording, especially if you're planning on playing the songs under the reviews.
  3) Know your recording interface, so you can control the levels of the music when needs must, transparently. I'd just installed Logic Express to do the reviews, and my inexperience showed.
  4) Decide in advance the "flavor" of the reviews. Whether techy or like a DVD commentary track or something entirely different, once you commit to a style that makes it that much easier to talk freely.
  5) You're going to spend more time mixing down & exporting than you think.
  6) This ain't FCC regulated, so you can talk naturally. Be comfortable with yourself.
  7) There's a good chance you're going to meet some of the people you review IRL. Remember that.
  8 ) This is a bazillion times more intimate than text on a screen. You're talking directly to the performer.
  9) Check your levels!
  10) Experiment with data rates (or whatever they're called) for the exported files. 96kBps was as low as I could go without making the music in the background sound like ass. VBR makes for slightly bigger files, too.
  11) Don't breathe through your nose. It whistles. All the other mike control techniques apply.
  12) Drink in moderation while "on-air"
  13) If you're bored, take a break or keep yourself entertained somehow. The song will end eventually.

Uhhh... gots to get ready for work now. Next?

[Billy's Little Trip]

Cool, thanks Rabz

12) Drink in moderation while "on-air" Wink

[wages]

Cool, thanks Rabz

12) Drink in moderation while "on-air" Wink

Wouldn't that limit the amount of fun I have? BTW, I started making audio reviews. We'll see how it goes.

[The Weakest Suit]

my approach was much cruder.
after listening to the songs several times, i listened once more and made some notes on each, so i would have a template of what i wanted to get across for each song.
i originally tried this without a template and found that my thoughts were not organized enough to proceed freeform.
then i pressed record on my Sansa MP3 player and just started talking about each one.
when i was done, i downloaded the files into my iTunes jukebox and converted them into 64kbps audio files.
i titled each one and uploaded them to esnips.

[Paco Del Stinko]

Yes, much is my fault. Thanks for posting your methods, guys: very insightful, especially to a doof like me.

[anti-m]

This is a good idea, kids -- but I haven't listened yet, because I'm hoping you boys will add an m3u "stream all" to your review piles. May I suggest such a thing?

(If you don't know how to do the m3u thing, I can elaborate)

I'd do it, but I'm lazy.

--Em

[starfinger]

"stream all"

i wrote a bookmarklet a while ago that can make an m3u out of all the mp3 links on a page you're visiting, if that helps:

http://kongbalong.com/blog/2007/08/08/m3u-bookmarklet/

-craig

[fluffy]

Mm, nice that other people have started doing this too. I need to pay more attention. (I also expected to do more than just the Bad Cat one.)

The way I did my Bad Cat review "show":

<ol>
<li>Put all the songs on an iPod
<li>Listened to all the songs without paying attention to the names (except for songs which really stood out)
<li>Listened to the songs again while recording my commentary in one take
<li>Edited a continuous mix of song excerpts to back up the commentary (rearranging the commentary as appropriate, adding pauses, etc.). I also did a bunch of editing to some of the songs to make aspects I was talking about line up with me talking about them, and so on.
</ol>

I might do another one someday.

[Rabid Garfunkel]

This is a good idea, kids -- but I haven't listened yet, because I'm hoping you boys will add an m3u "stream all" to your review piles. May I suggest such a thing?

(If you don't know how to do the m3u thing, I can elaborate)

I'd do it, but I'm lazy.

--Em

Done-ish (I've been told it only sorta works. Webly fellows out there, do I have to muck with my server to get this STREAM ALL to work right?).

[EmbersOfAutumn]

What would I use for a hosting site for the review files?

[anti-m]

This is a good idea, kids -- but I haven't listened yet, because I'm hoping you boys will add an m3u "stream all" to your review piles. May I suggest such a thing?

(If you don't know how to do the m3u thing, I can elaborate)

I'd do it, but I'm lazy.

--Em

Done-ish (I've been told it only sorta works. Webly fellows out there, do I have to muck with my server to get this STREAM ALL to work right?).

Sweet! Thanks for putting that together. Now I can listen at my leisure. Nice work!

That m3u maker is cool... although I seem to be having trouble getting it to work on SF -- maybe due to frames? I dunno. I'll play with it, in any case.

[starfinger]

That m3u maker is cool... although I seem to be having trouble getting it to work on SF -- maybe due to frames? I dunno. I'll play with it, in any case.

it works fine here... what are your symptoms?

-craig